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Center, North Dakota

6 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1972. It stands in the East Oliver unorganized territory. It lies in ZIP code area 58530. The Survey maps it on the Center quadrangle. 588 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,975 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Center within Oliver County

Population over time

2 figures

Center grew from 571 to 588 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
2010571
2020588+17 (+3%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

3 surveys from 6 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

13 since 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 13 fires within 5 miles of Center between 2008 and 2020, burning about 1,098 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined6
Debris and open burning2
Arson/incendiarism1
Fireworks1
Natural1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Equipment and vehicle use1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
1 August 2018Arson/incendiarismunder an acreNorth Dakota State Forest ServiceBALL PARK FIRE
4 July 2018Natural1.0 acresNorth Dakota State Forest ServiceERHARDT
30 July 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresNorth Dakota State Forest ServiceHAZEL MINER
21 June 2016Fireworks1.0 acresNorth Dakota State Forest ServiceFIREWORKS FIRE
14 June 2016Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreNorth Dakota State Forest ServiceHWY 200A AND HWY 48 INTERSECTION
20 May 2019Debris and open burningunder an acreNorth Dakota State Forest ServiceTREE ROWS
5 April 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined80 acresNorth Dakota State Forest ServiceWILBERT J BELT
30 April 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined4.0 acresNorth Dakota State Forest ServiceJEFF ERHARDT

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Oliver County

Storms near this place

60 of 78 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Center in 78 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 47 hail, 24 thunderstorm wind, 3 tornado, 2 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
September 2014HailCenter$200,000There was damage to buildings and the hail stripped leaves from trees and broke branches. Hail ranged from quarter to baseball size.
July 2014Thunderstorm WindCenter$100,000Trees six inches in diameter were snapped in Center. Power lines were also reported down from the falling trees.
May 1994HailCenter$50,000no account filed
July 2021Thunderstorm WindCenter$35,000A small grain bin was blown out of the yard, and shingles were blown off the west side of a house.
July 2005HailCenter$30,000Damage to homes, vehicles, and trees.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindCenter$20,000A farm was impacted by the severe thunderstorm winds. Fences were blown down, garage doors were blown out, roofs were damaged, and farmyard items were blown over and rolled. Crop damage was also reported.
June 2011Flash FloodCenter$20,000Heavy rainfall of over three inches resulted in widespread flash flooding over eastern Oliver County as confirmed by emergency management. Low water crossings were flooded with damage to gravel roads and culverts.
June 1996Thunderstorm WindCenter$12,000no account filed
July 2016Thunderstorm WindCenter$10,000Trees were down near Center.
September 2009Thunderstorm WindCenter$10,000Hail up to the size of nickels accompanied the severe thunderstorm wind gusts. Some tree damage was reported in Center.
May 1994HailCenter$5,000no account filed
May 2007Thunderstorm WindCenter$1,000Damage to observers home. Soffit and gutter was torn off.
July 1996Thunderstorm WindCenter$500no account filed
May 2007HailCenter$100One window was broken due to the hail.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindCenter-Thunderstorm wind gusts were estimated by the public.
June 2011Funnel CloudCenter-Two funnel clouds were reported over Oliver County. The funnels did not reach the surface and dissipated shortly after forming.
June 2011Funnel CloudCenter-Three funnel clouds were reported. Law enforcement reported these funnels did not touch the ground.
May 2010Thunderstorm WindCenter-Very heavy rain accompanied the strong thunderstorm winds.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindCenter-Severe thunderstorm wind gusts were accompanied by dime size hail.
May 2007Thunderstorm WindCenter-Rainfall was 0.57 inches in a very short period of time which caused very minor street flooding. The storm was accompanied by pea size hail.
May 2005Flash FloodCenter-Heavy rainfall of 3.50 inches caused water to flow across farm yard and into the basement of a farm house.
August 2004Tornado (F0)Center-Tornado briefly touched down in open country.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindCenter-Large tree limbs broken.
July 2002Thunderstorm WindCenter-Numerous reports by a NWS cooperative observer and newspaper of damage to buildings and downed power lines. Several crop fields wiped out by wind and hail.
June 2001HailCenter-Mostly heavy rain with this storm.
June 2001Thunderstorm WindCenter-A public report of a 10 foot section of a roof lifted off home. A moble home had wind and hail damage. A top of a camper completely destroyed.
June 2001Thunderstorm WindCenter-Farm home and machinery damaged. One machine fipped over and hood off a pickup torned off. Farmer thought the damage was caused by a tornado but could not confirm.
November 2000Tornado (F1)Center-Tornado entered Oliver county from Morton county. The tornado remained in open country then lifted back into the clouds 14 miles southeast of Center.
May 1998Tornado (F0)Center-Brief touch down
June 2025Thunderstorm WindCenter-no account filed
July 2024HailCenter-no account filed
July 2024HailCenter-no account filed
July 2024HailCenter-no account filed
July 2022Thunderstorm WindCenter-no account filed
July 2022Thunderstorm WindCenter-no account filed
June 2020HailCenter-no account filed
June 2020HailCenter-no account filed
June 2020HailCenter-no account filed
June 2020HailCenter-no account filed
August 2019HailCenter-no account filed
June 2018HailCenter-no account filed
June 2017HailCenter-no account filed
July 2017Thunderstorm WindCenter-no account filed
July 2016HailCenter-no account filed
July 2016HailCenter-no account filed
July 2016HailCenter-no account filed
July 2016HailCenter-no account filed
July 2016HailCenter-no account filed
July 2015HailCenter-no account filed
September 2014HailCenter-no account filed
July 2014Thunderstorm WindCenter-no account filed
July 2011HailCenter-no account filed
July 2011HailCenter-no account filed
June 2008HailCenter-no account filed
August 2008HailCenter-no account filed
August 2006HailCenter-no account filed
May 2006HailCenter-no account filed
June 2005HailCenter-no account filed
June 2005HailCenter-no account filed
June 2005HailCenter-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Oliver County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Hannover6.7 miles5
Fort Clark8.9 miles6
Otter Creek14.3 miles5
Hensler15.1 miles9
Sanger16.7 miles8
Price19.1 miles9

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on CenterAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2087867The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1028320. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.